Umbrella frame

ABSTRACT

An umbrella frame of the parallelogram type which includes a stick, a crown at one end of the stick, a main runner slidable on the stick, and an auxiliary runner slidable on the stick between the main runner and the crown. Stretcher members are hingedly connected to the main runner, while strut members are hinged to the auxiliary member and each to a mid point of each stretcher member. A dome rib is pivotally connected to each end of a stretcher member and extends inwardly from the end of the stretcher member a short distance where it is connected to a linkage member which in turn is hingedly connected to the strut member forming a quadrilateral parallelogram linkage with the dome rib.

United States Patent 1191 Weber [111 3,921,655 1 Nov. 25, 1975 1 UMBRELLAFRAME [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Telesco Brophey Limited, Montreal,

Canada 22 Filed: Dec. 3, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 420,907

Heinz Weber, Hilden, Germany Primary ExaminerJ. Karl Bell Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Mitchell; Alan Swabey [57] ABSTRACT An umbrella frame of the parallelogram type which includes a stick, a crown at one end of the stick, a main runner slidable on the stick, and an auxiliary runner slidable on the stick between the main runner and the crown. Stretcher members are hingedly connected to the main runner, while strut members are hinged to the auxiliary member and each to a mid point of each stretcher member. A dome rib is pivotally connected to each end of a stretcher member and extends inwardly from the end of the stretcher member a short distance where it is connected to a linkage member which in turn is hingedly connected to the strut member forming a quadrilateral parallelogram linkage with the dome rib.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 1 of3 3,921,655

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet20f3 3,921,655

Sheet 3 of 3 3,921,655

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 FIG 3 UMBRELLA FRAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an umbrella, and more particularly, to an umbrella frame of the parallelogram type.

2. Description of the Prior Art Umbrellas of this type are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model 8038/1930 and US. Pat. No. 3,467,l 15. This type of umbrella, as disclosed in these patents, includes a stick which may be telescopic with a crown at one end. A single runner slides on the stick. Stretcher members are hinged to the runner and dome rib members are hinged to the free ends of the stretcher member. The dome rib members extend inwardly slightly and are hinged to a link member which in turn is connected to a strut member hinged midway to the dome rib and to the crown. These parallelogram-type umbrellas fold inwardly with all of the members parallel to the stick when the umbrella is closed. The covering material is, therefore, furled and folded against the stick, particularly that portion of the material between the crown and the dome rib end. That section of the material is caught between the folded strut and stretcher member against the stick. The disadvantage of this construction is that when the umbrella covering material is wet and the user wishes to close the umbrella, there is no alternative but to fold the covering material up against the stick as described above. In conventional telescopic umbrellas, the dome ribs may be closed against the stick without having to telescope the dome ribs and furl the covering material allowing the covering material to be stretched fully along the length of the stick enabling it to dry more easily. In the type of umbrella described in the above-mentioned patents, the frame immediately folds against the stick when it is not in a fully opened position. When the fabric is in a moist condition, it will not dry easily when it is folded and furled up against the stick as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is purpose of the present invention to provide an improved parallelogram-type of umbrella frame such that it has the advantage of conventional telescopic types of umbrellas whereby the fabric can be fully stretched along the stick in a closed position, to allow the fabric to be dried when not fully opened.

In a construction in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an umbrella stick, a crown at one end of the stick, a main runner slidable on the stick, stretcher members hinged to the crown, an auxiliary runner slidable on the stick between the main runner and the crown, strut members hinged to the auxiliary runner and each to mid points on each stretcher member, dome ribs hinged to the end of the stretcher member, wherein each dome rib extends inwardly a short distance from the hinge point with the stretcher member. and link members hinged to the extension of the dome rib and to the strut members to provide a parallelogram linkage therebetween.

In a more specific embodiment of the present invention, resilient type fingers may be connected to the crown to allow the fabric to mushroom outwardly when the umbrella is being closed and collapsed in its smallest package position.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, it will now be referred to in more detail by reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention therein, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational schematic view of an umbrella frame in accordance with the present invention which is in an open position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary enlarged detail view of the umbrella shown in the position of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a radial cross-section taken along line 2A-2A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged view showing the umbrella frame in a closed, but not completely collapsed, position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the umbrella in its closed collapsed position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown an umbrella stick 1 comprising two telescopic sections 2 and 3. Both stick sections 2 and 3 are of polygonal, preferably hexagonal, cross-section so as to prevent rotation of one stick section relative to the other. A locking detent device 4 is provided between the sticks in order to temporarily lock the umbrella sticks in an extended position. A handle 5 is attached to the free end of stick section 3 as shown in the drawings. On the other end of the umbrella stick, a crown 6 is attached to the stick section 3.

A main runner 24 slides on the stick 1 and a lock lever 37 is adapted to engage an opening Ra in the stick section 3 when the umbrella is in its open position. The main runner 24 includes a bore 24 which has a crosssection similar to the cross-section of the stick 1. A plurality of stretcher members 25 are hinged to the flange 26 of the runner 24. An auxiliary runner 27 slides on the stick between the runner 24 and the crown 6. The auxiliary runner also defines a center bore 27' having a cross-section similar to the cross-section of stick section 3. The auxiliary runner includes a substantially cylindrical sleeve 27" and a flange 28. Strut members 29 are hinged to the flange 28. Each strut is hinged to a stretcher member 25 by means of a hinge pin 30 midway of a stretcher 25.

A dome rib hinge member 14 is hingedly mounted to the end of each stretcher member 25 by means of hinge pin 16. The dome rib hinge member 14 includes an extension 19 to which a link member 31 is hinged at 15. The link member 31 is also hinged at its other end to the strut member 29 at hinge pin 33. The link 31, a portion of the strut 29 between the hinge pins 33 and 30, the stretcher member 25 between the hinge pins 30 and 16, and the dome rib hinge member 14 define a parallelogram structure p.

A dome rib 7 including a rod of circular cross-section 7b and the dome rib tip 23 is fitted in a sleeve 34 in the dome rib hinge member 14. The angle at which the dome rib 7 lays is determined by the parallelogram linkage described above.

The umbrella may be provided with a crown flange 50 into which spring-like fingers 51 are provided, to form the cover material 20 into a mushroom when the umbrella is being collapsed.

The main runner 26 includes a sleeve extension 36 which acts as a spacer for the main runner whenthe umbrella is in an open position.

A fabric cover is provided over the frame and is attached centrally by the crown 6 including the cap 53 and the annular flange 50. The fabric is also attached in the area of the dome rib hinge members 14 by means of threads 21 and also to the dome rib tips 23.

One of the struts 29 can be provided with an opening device including a pawl 59 fixed in a U-shaped structure and including an engaging head 54. The pawl 54 is spring loaded when the umbrella is in its closed position and as the runner is released from a position shown in FIG. 4, the pawl pushes the strut 29 away from the auxiliary runner sleeve 27' and thereby initially opens the parallelogram structure.

In operation, when it is necessary to close the umbrella without fully collapsing it (FIG. 3) to allow the umbrella material to be dried, the stick 1 is kept in its fully extended position while the runner 24 is moved axially towards the handle. This causes the parallelogram structure to fold, thereby bringing the dome ribs 7 into a position parallel with the stick 1. Since the strut 29 is hinged to the auxiliary runner 27, this auxiliary runner will also slide downwardly to a position shown inFIG. 3. The cover material 20, as shown in FIG. 3, will be stretched along the length of the stick 1. When it is finally required to fully collapse the umbrella, the runner 27 is pushed upwardly while the user holds the dome ribs against opening so that both the runners 24 and 27 will move towards the crown 6. The stick section 2 can then be collapsed within the stick section 3 and shortened to assume a position as shown in FIG. 4.

I claim:

1. An umbrella including a frame having a telescopic stick comprising at least two axially collapsible sections, a crown at one end of the stick, a main runner slidable on the stick, an auxiliary runner slidable on the stick between the main runner and the crown, means associated with the main runner and the stick for preventing rotation of the auxiliary runner relative to the stick but allowing axial sliding movement of the auxiliary runner on the stick, stretcher members hinged to the main runner, strut members hinged to the auxiliary runner and to the stretcher members, a non-telescopic. dome rib hinged to a free outer end of each stretcher member with an inner end portionof the dome rib 'extending beyond the hinge point with the stretcher mem ber, a link member hinged to the inner end of the dome y 'rib members and the strut member and forming a paral- Ielogram link assembly which is foldable adjacent the telescopic stick in each of two collapsed conditions of the umbrella frame, an umbrella dome fabric attached to the crown and extending radially therefrom, means securing the umbrella fabric to the dome ribs adjacent both ends of the dome ribs and forming a free, unsupported, flexible portion between the crown and the inner ends of the dome ribs, said umbrella frame being I collapsible to a first condition in which the strut members, stretcher members, link members and dome ribs are folded into overlying relationship and the auxiliary runner and main runner are in a spaced relationship remote from the crown at a distance determined by the distance said free, flexible, unsupported dome fabric is substantially stretched along the extended, telescopic stick, and said folded parallelogram linkage integrating movement of the auxiliary runner and main runner as a unit to a second collapsed condition of said umbrella 7 frame where the stick sections are telescoped until the auxiliary runner is positioned adjacent said crown and the free, flexible, unsupported portion of said dome material can drape over and outside of the collapsed f parallelogram linkage whereby the umbrella can be. j

readily packaged. I

2. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein resilframe is being collapsed in the second collapsed condition when the auxiliary runner is moved toward the I crown while the stick is being telescoped. l 3. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein the means associated with the auxiliary runner, and the stick for preventing rotation include a surfaceof polygonal cross-section onthe stick and an inner bore in the auxiliary runner-having a similar cross-sectionto that, '7" d ofthe stick.

a a *V 

1. An umbrella including a frame having a telescopic stick comprising at least two axially collapsible sections, a crown at one end of the stick, a main runner slidable on the stick, an auxiliary runner slidable on the stick between the main runner and the crown, means associated with the main runner and the stick for preventing rotation of the auxiliary runner relative to the stick but allowing axial sliding movement of the auxiliary runner on the stick, stretcher members hinged to the main runner, strut members hinged to the auxiliary runner and to the stretcher members, a non-telescopic dome rib hinged to a free outer end of each stretcher member with an inner end portion of the dome rib extending beyond the hinge point with the stretcher member, a link member hinged to the inner end of the dome rib members and the strut member and forming a parallelogram link assembly which is foldable adjacent the telescopic stick in each of two collapsed conditions of the umbrella frame, an umbrella dome fabric attached to the crown and extending radially therefrom, means securing the umbrella fabric to the dome ribs adjacent both ends of the dome ribs and forming a free, unsupported, flexible portion between the crown and the inner ends of the dome ribs, said umbrella frame being collapsible to a first condition in which the strut members, stretcher members, link members and dome ribs are folded into overlying relationship and the auxiliary runner and main runner are in a spaced relationship remote from the crown at a distance determined by the distance said free, flexible, unsupported dome fabric is substantially stretched along the extended, telescopic stick, and said folded parallelogram linkage integrating movement of the auxiliary runner and main runner as a unit to a second collapsed condition of said umbrella frame where the stick sections are telescoped until the auxiliary runner is positioned adjacent said crown and the free, flexible, unsupported portion of said dome material can drape over and outside of the collapsed parallelogram linkage whereby the umbrella can be readily packaged.
 2. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein resilient fingers extend radially from the crown and form the free, unsupported portion of the umbrella cover in a radially extending mushroom form when the umbrella frame is being collapsed in the second collapsed condition when the auxiliary runner is moved toward the crown while the stick is being telescoped.
 3. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein the means associated with the auxiliary runner and the stick for preventing rotation include a surface of polygonal cross-section on the stick and an inner bore in the auxiliary runner having a similar cross-section to that of the stick. 